


The Simple Things

by dreamedofwings (fabre)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-23
Updated: 2014-01-23
Packaged: 2018-02-12 21:57:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2126022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fabre/pseuds/dreamedofwings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean had a bit of an unusual hobby when he was in middle school.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Simple Things

Dean had a bit of an unusual hobby when he was in middle school. See, he'd... kind of been watching the kid next door for years.  
  
At first he did it out of curiosity; the Novaks had only just moved in and they had like a million children, who were loud and always fighting outside where the whole neighborhood could hear them, often seeming to end up wrestling on the floor in a pile of limbs and nudging elbows and biting (courtesy of Gabriel; the one brother he had actually met in person because the Novaks had made him come over to apologize one day for tampering with the whole neighborhood's sprinklers so that, instead of water, beer would come out -- Dean thought he was kind of a genius).  
  
But yes. The craziness seemed like a family event to which all siblings were invited... all except for the youngest, that is.  
  
Dean had a pretty good view from his room, where he could hear them arguing about something or another while the youngest Novak sat by his favorite tree (or at least what Dean assumed was his favorite tree, seeing as he was always sitting on the same spot), reading a book as peaceful as an angel.   
  
Sometimes one of his brothers would approach him and try and get him to join whatever it was that they were doing at the moment, but Cas (Dean had heard one of them call him 'Castiel' once during a particularly loud argument, so he'd started calling him 'Cas' in his head -- less of a mouthful) would always politely decline and go back to his reading.  
  
At first Dean had thought he had some sort of superiority complex -- you know, being above 'human interaction' or whatever. But the longer he'd watched (it hadn't started as a creepy thing, okay? But that particular night he'd gotten grounded and had both his computer and his phone taken away and Dean had gotten  _bored_ ), the faster he'd come to realize that wasn't the case.

Whenever the fighting would end, Cas would put his book down, stand and dust his pants off, and then quietly approach whoever had lost the latest shouting or pushing match -- silent as a mouse he'd offer a helping hand and a patient ear, listening to his siblings ranting, wiping away their tears and tending to their scratches if the play fighting had gotten too rough and just. Being there.

He never told them off. He never took sides. It didn't matter who ended up on the floor; each time, he'd offer the same comfort, bring out the same box of ridiculously colored plastic band-aids and play nurse like there was absolutely nothing else he'd rather be doing.

Cas was so far from not caring about his siblings Dean had felt like an idiot for ever having assumed otherwise.  
  
So he'd watched him.  
  
It felt kind of pathetic, but it went on for years. He couldn't help himself. Cas fascinated him in ways he couldn't even explain to himself, and even when he had been struggling with what this fascination could mean, trying to deny that maybe his watching didn't have everything to do with curiosity, he found his traitorous eyes straying outside, trying to catch a glimpse of gentle blue eyes and the smallest of smiles.  
  
But life kept on going and then fate decided it had other plans.  
  
Dean was in his sophomore year when Cas entered high school, and since Dean's school was the closest one to their neighborhood, of course they both ended up going there.  
  
Suddenly, Cas wasn't on the other side of his window.   
  
Suddenly, Cas was walking next to him on their way to school.   
  
It had been a coincidence at first. They'd both left the house at the same time and Dean had felt it'd be kind of awkward to ignore him, especially seeing as how they were going in the same direction. So one awkward 'Hey' and a curious head tilt and 'Hello' later, they were on their way.  
  
It became a ritual.  
  
Cas wasn't particularly talkative with his siblings, as far as Dean had seen, at least; or even at school. But their walks together were always full of quiet conversation, a chance for Dean to add more pieces to the puzzle that was his neighbor.

And each little piece seemed to be hinting towards a full picture that made Dean's heart beat a little faster and his hands start to sweat like he was some kind of 13 year old with a crush.

But he wouldn't trade their walks for the world (even if they thrilled and terrified him at the same time).  
  
\---  
  
It was a bright spring day and they were sitting under Cas' tree. Dean was leaning back against the trunk, trying to nap while Cas read a book about the history of some long forgotten civilization or another. A few months ago they'd finally started hanging out outside of their morning walks; marathoning series that Dean felt Cas just  _had_  to watch, Cas helping Dean with his French homework because he was some sort of multilingual genius, sometimes just sitting together while Dean did his homework and Cas his own. It was nice. It was routine. It was safe.  
  
"Huh." Dean straightened a bit as he glanced casually in the direction of his house, "You know, I can totally see my room from here."  
  
Cas looked up so fast, eyes so wide, Dean was afraid they were going to pop out of his face, "W-What?" And was that...? Was he blushing?  
  
"I can see my room from here." He adjusted his position so he was sitting where Cas usually sat, feeling completely mortified as he realized how easily he could have been spotted when he was watching Cas like some kind of creep. "Uh, y-yeah, just. Yeah."  
  
Cas suddenly seemed incredibly absorbed by his book, "I see. I-I never noticed."  
  
There was a bit of an awkward silence, since Dean wasn't too sure how to go about asking your new best friend if he'd ever caught you ogling him. It'd certainly explain why Cas was acting so weird.  
  
"Uh."  
  
Before Dean could fill up the silence with some commentary on the fine weather, Cas seemed to come to some kind of resolution, taking a deep breath and not looking up from his book -- and this was it. He was gonna tell Dean to leave.  
  
Only instead, Cas mumbled something Dean didn't catch.   
  
"What was that?"  
  
A part of Dean felt amused when Cas cursed to himself, glancing up at Dean as he started again "I said," he sounded annoyed and embarrassed at the same time, and it shouldn't have been so adorable, but  _it was_ , "I would. See you. Sometimes. Around, I mean."  
  
"Oh."  
  
 _Oh_.  
  
But wait, see him? He'd sit there every day! Did that mean...?  
  
Dean felt a grin spreading over his face, "Cas, were you sitting here all this time  _watching me_?"  
  
Cas' face seemed to turn redder and he made a point of hiding even more behind his book.  
  
Dean couldn't help himself; he laughed, relieved. He was just that stupidly happy. He also couldn't wait anymore. They'd both waited for far too long.  
  
"Cas." He took Cas' book in hand and carefully placed it next to them on the grass, ignoring his friend's indignant protest and his startled yelp as Dean pushed him gently to the ground, pressing their lips together in a long awaited kiss.   
  
It was a bit clumsy and Cas' lips weren't soft like a girls' and a patch of grass was tickling his arm, but this was Cas and they were finally kissing and it was perfect.  
  
At least Cas wasn't complaining. 

In fact, he might have grabbed the back of Dean's shirt and pulled him closer, mumbling something about 'finally, Winchester'. 

(Dean didn't ask him about it. He just kissed him harder. Priorities.)


End file.
